How To Learn At A Magic Convention

The biggest tip we can offer on the best way to learn is to take notes. LOTS of notes. At Magifest and The Session we provide gorgeous notebooks for our guests, so that you can take notes in a book that fits the theme of the weekend.

Focus On What You Want To Learn

Another tip at a convention is to focus on just a few things you want to learn. There is a major risk at most magic conventions of sensory overload. Instead, you want to focus on learning, say, three card tricks, and then whittling down your bandwidth to just focus on getting those right.

Lights, Camera, Action

Your camera phone is also your friend. In addition to getting photos with your favorite performers, you can also record yourself or a buddy DOING the material you want to learn, so you never forget it.

One final tip: buy magic books instead of tricks. There’s always better value in books.

Look At What The Kids Are Doing

We invest heavily in our Youth Scholarship to make sure young people can attend our conventions regardless of their financial status. We think that we can not only teach young magicians, but also, they have a lot to teach us. This is why young magicians are so important at our magic conventions.

What We Learned from Attending Other Conventions

We immodestly feel that our events--The Magifest and The Session--are top tier events in the industry. We're proud to say they are our favorite magic conventions. But of course we’ve learned and borrowed from other conventions. We see things we like and, more often, things we don’t like. That's how we make our magic conventions work so well.

The biggest mistake most conventions make is overcrowding the schedule. We try to aim for an hour of free time for every hour of programming. This way, attendees don’t have to choose between food and sleep or magic.

We also try to avoid any weak points. This sounds obvious, but most conventions take the approach of throwing a lot at a wall and hoping something sticks. Instead, we curate so that all of our performers shine, and we don’t have any weak performers or events.

Variety is also important to us. We realize that magicians are a varied bunch, and what they want is variety. Not everyone loves card tricks. Some people attend just to buy things from their favorite magic shop. So we try to offer events that will appeal to a variety of interests. That’s why we have close-up shows, stage shows, lectures, and even comedy events.

If it is real variety you're interested in, then how about a mix of yoga, white water rafting, game drives, meditation and magic! Our popular event The Retreat is so much more than a magic convention - and it's easy to see why.

Whatever you're interested in, we believe our magic conventions are the best place you can learn magic.